On April 1, Binance co-founder Changpeng Zhao (CZ) stirred the crypto world with a playful thought experiment that doubled as an April Fools’ prank. Posting to X, CZ proposed a wildly improbable scenario: what if someone, by pure chance, generated the exact wallet address used to burn tokens — specifically, the infamous “0x000…dead” address?
While the idea drew laughter, it also triggered some serious discussion across the crypto community.
Trust Wallet Joins the Fun, Crypto Twitter Reacts
Binance’s own non-custodial wallet, Trust Wallet, joined in on the joke with a simple nod: “Happy April Fools day.”
Others took the opportunity to reflect on the sheer improbability of such a scenario. One crypto commentator responded:
Another chimed in with an even more dramatic comparison:
The Math Behind the Madness
Despite the absurdity, CZ’s joke wasn’t entirely detached from technical truth. Ethereum wallet addresses are created using 160-bit cryptographic hashing, meaning there are 2¹⁶⁰ possible combinations. That’s over 1.46 quintillion quintillion addresses. The odds of randomly hitting the exact burn address? Practically zero, but not technically impossible.
This mind-bending probability mirrors the security strength behind blockchain architecture. While every address is mathematically possible, some — like “0x000…dead” — are so statistically improbable that they’re considered cryptographic folklore.
A Lighthearted Reminder of Blockchain’s Depth
In the end, CZ’s April 1 prank was more than just a joke — it highlighted how deep and fascinating blockchain systems really are. It served as a reminder of the power of cryptography, the near-impossibility of duplication, and why token burns still rely on intentional actions rather than dumb luck.
As always, crypto users will have to continue burning tokens the traditional way — manually and on purpose — not through one-in-a-quintillion wallet miracles.